The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-05-06

Between an establishment in which all
the employees are under thorough dis
cipline and the establishment in which
the employees do about as they choose, is
ure-between rapid accumulation and
utter bankruptcy. Do not come to the
store ten minutes after the time. Be there
within two seconds after. Do not think
any thing too insignificant to do we'll Do
not say:
Again, I counsel clerks in this house to
search out what are the unlawful and
dishonest demands OF an establishment
and resist them. In the six thousand
years that has passed there has never
been an occasion when it was ones duty
to sin against God. It's never right to do
wrong. If the head men ex pect Of you
I dishonesty, disappoint them.
"O,' You say, Il should lost my place
thon'
Better lose your place than lose your
soul But you will not lose your place.
Christian heroism is always honored.
You go to the head man of your store, and
say:
''Sir, want to serve you; want to
oblige you; it is from no lack Of indus try
on my part, but this thing seems to me to
be wrong, and it is a sin against my con-
science. 1t is a sin against God, ana /
beg you, sir, to excuse me-"
He may flush up and swear, but he Will
cool down, and he will have more admira-
ton for you than for those who submit to
his evil dictation; and while they sink
you win rise. DO not, because Of seem
ing temporary adversely, give up your
character, young man. Under God, that
Is tha only thing you have to build on.
Give up tnaS, you give up every thing.
That employer asks young man to hurt
himself for tlme and for eternity who ex-
poets him to make a wrong entry, or
| change an invoice, or say goods cost so
much when they cost less, or impose upon
/ the verdancy Of a customer, or misrepre-
| sent a style Of fabric. How dare he de-
l mand of you any thing so insolent4
There is one style of tenn tation that
4 comes on a great many of our clerks, and
/ that is upon those who are en- gagged in
what is called drumming" Now, that
/ occupation is just as honorable as any
other, il it be conducted in accord with
| one's conscience. In this day, when there
/ are so many rivalries in business, all our
| commercial establishments ought to have
men abroad who are seeking out for OPP
portunities of merchandise. There can be
no objection to that. But there are pro
| fessed Christian merchants in the week
| night prayer-meeJing who have clerks
| abroad in New York, conducting mer-
chants of Cincinnati, and Chicago, and St
/ great town, in order to secure their Gus
I tom for the store. There are in stores in
\ New York and Brooklyn drawers in
/ which there are kept moneys which the
| clerks are 20 go and get whenever they
/ want to conduct these people through
| the designations of the city. The
/ head men Of the firm wink at It, and in
some places actually demand it-pro-
/ fessed Christian merchants. One would
| think that the prayer would freeze on
i their lips and they would fall back dead
/ at the sound of their own song. What
| chance is there for young men when com
/ mercial establishments expect such
things of them9 Among all things infer
Il nal pronounce that the most damna BILE.
| Young man, how will that firm treat you
/ when you are utterly despoiled and drag
! ged out with. sin, going through the
haunts Of iniquity for the purpose of get
| ting customers for their stored How will
| they treat youl o, they will give you a
pensionl They will build you a fine
housei They will get YOU a horse and
| carriagel VIII they9 No. Some day you
will go to the store, shabby, intoxicated,
worn out in their service; and they will
| say:
| John, you are disgrace to our house.
\ Now, just look at yourself Accountant,
how much do we owe this mani"
"a dollar and thirty cents"
"Well, now, here-here it is, one dollar
and thirty cents. Go of. Don't be hang
| ing round the store"
Magnanimity superb They stole the
| luster from his eye, and the color from
/ his cheek, and the honor from his soul,
and then they kicked him out. If such
/ prOfessed Christian merchants do not 20
straight to hell I don't know any use of
\ having such place. o, young men, dis
appoint the expectation of that firm; dis
appoint those customers if these things
are expected of you. You may sell an
extra case of goods, you may sell an extra
roll of silk, but the trouble is you may
have to throw your soul to boot in the
bargain.
Again, I counsel all clerks to cong uer
the trials of their particular position. One
great trial for clerks is the inconsidera-
ton Of customers. There are people who
are entirely polite everywhere else, but
gruh and dictatorial anu contemptible
when they come into a store to buy any
thing. There are thousands of men and
women who go from store to store to price
things, without any idea of purch ase.
They are not satisfied until every roll of
goods is brought down, and they
have pointed out all the real or
| imaginary defects They try on all
kinds of kid gloves and stretch
| them out of shape, and they
put on all styles Of cloalI5 and walk to the
mirror to see how it would look, and then
they sail out Of the store, saying II will
not take it to-day" which means: Il don't
want it at all, - leaving the clerk amid
confusion of ribbons, and laces, and cloths,
to smooth $500 worth of gOOds-not one
cent Of WHICH did that man or woman buy
or intend 10 buy Now / call that a DIS
honesty on the part of the customer. If a
boy runs into store and takes a roll of
cloth off the counter and sneaks out into
the street, you all Join in the cry pell- NELL /:
''StOp thiefp' When / see you go into a
store not expecting to buy anything but
to price things, stealing the tune OF the
clerk and stealing the time of his en-
ployer, say, too: stop thiefr' IfIwere
asked which class of persons most need
the grace of God amid their annoyances,
Iwould say: ''Dry goods clerks" All the
indignation of customers about the high
prices comes on the clerk. For instance:
A great war comes. The manufactures
are closed. The people go off to battle
The price of goods runs up. A customer
comes into a store. Goods have gone up
Chow much is that worthl"
"a dollar"
"a dollarl Outrageous A dollar!n
Why, who is to blame for the fact that
it has got to be dollarl Does the indig
nation go out to the manufacturers on the
banks Of the Merrimac. because they have
closed upt No. Does the indignation so
out toward the employee, who is out at his
country seat. No. 1t comes on the clerk
He got up the warl He levied the taxes
He puts up the rents OF course it's the
clerk9
THE PARsIMoNIoUs SIDE.
Then great trial comes to the clerks in
the fact that they sec the parsimoni Gus
side of human nature. You talk about
lies behind the counter-there are Just al
many lies before the counter. Augustine
speaks Of man who advertised that he
would, on a certain occasion, tell the peo-